


Home Run

by MistressArafax



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-07-24 21:24:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressArafax/pseuds/MistressArafax
Summary: Jounouchi finds himself with a scholarship to play baseball in college. Unfortunately, Kaiba, his rival from another high school team, is also playing at the college. Now they're both seniors, looking toward the future and trying to go pro. How in the world could Jounouchi ever put aside his grudge and learn to work together to reach his goal?





	1. Freshmen

**Author's Note:**

> I don't always write first person POV, but when I do, it's a random-ass college baseball AU, Violetshipping fanfic.

“Wake up, loser.”

Not a great way to start the mornin’, but Kaiba Seto was never fuckin’ nice to me in the mornin’. Or ever really. Like once after a Blue Moon. Haha. Lame joke, I know. Like he’d ever drink a cheap piss-tastin’ beer like that.

“Ah, fuck you,” I grumbled.

“I might let you later,” he intoned in such a way that I  _ knew _ he meant it, and just the thought was enough to get my blood rushin’ to my dick, a very enlivenin’ sensation, “but I’m leaving now, and I’d suggest you get your ass out of bed before it gets reamed by Coach Matsumoto for being late on our first day of training.”

I gave him a toothy, lecherous grin. “Ye’r the only one who ever gets to ream my ass, babe.”

He groaned in disgust, eyes rolled theatrically before stompin’ out of the bedroom. Hearin’ the door slam behind him, I sat up with a sigh. He wasn’t wrong though. If I was late for the first day of practice, Coach Matsumoto woulda had the sort of punishment for me I’d regret incurrin’ for the entire season. So needless to say, I followed Kaiba’s example, draggin’ my ass out of bed and gettin’ dressed to make it to practice, cap pulled on to control my fuckin’ ridiculous hair. Not that Kaiba had helped that much last night with how much he’d yanked me around by it. Bag slung over my shoulder, I darted out the door, hopin’ that I’d catch up with him.

I made it right in time, slidin’ into the locker room, and sittin’ down on the bench only seconds before Coach Matsumoto came in. “Alright, boys. Baseball season is a few months from now, but we can never be too prepared. We aren’t going to stay national champions if we slack off. Kaiba and Jounouchi will be our starting pitcher and catcher respectively. The rest of you are fighting for open positions.”

Kaiba snorted derisively, and I glared at him. We had lost a team full of seniors the previous year. It was gonna make things tough, but I believed in Kaiba more than anythin’ else. My hope for the future rested in his hands. His pitchin’ would highlight how good of a catcher I was, and practicin’ against his pitchin’ had only improved my battin’ ability. I escaped my shitty childhood home by dedicatin’ every second of my life to baseball, and I wasn’t about to lose that escape. I needed to go pro. That was the goal. Doin’ so hinged on Kaiba.

It was his goal, too, I knew, though I ain’t gotta clue why. Bein’ able to stand bein’ in the same room as him was kinda a recent development. And when we did, well… we fucked. Really no other way to put it. It definitely hadn’t started that way. I hated his guts. Not so much anymore unless he was bein’ an extra annoyin' prick, but anymore, I stayed a little more patient with him. He was gettin’ me noticed by pro recruiters. Couldn’t be mad about that.

And the fucks were top notch, too.

That’s beside the point.

I had my reasons for hatin’ him, of course. Because like… he’s a God damned prick. A rich douchebag. He showed up in my life for the first time in high school. I had only just started playin’ baseball then. Admittedly, I kinda sucked. Then Kaiba showed up, rich kid havin’ played for some club team for years. He was aloof but fuckin’ good. I thought wit’ him around, we’d be unbeatable. And then he just… up and left after our first game. Said we were losers and not worth his time. Then he transferred to some fancy ass boardin’ school across town, and they whooped our asses every time we played ‘em.

That was the start of our rivalry. He pitched like he was already grown, throwin’ with scary speed and accuracy. A cocky sneer directed at every person he struck out, and ‘at was nearly everyone.

I improved a lot over the next couple ‘a years thanks to my teammates and friends. We stuck close. Practiced every chance we got. It was fun. It got me away from my house and away from my shitty dad. I never wanted to go home anyway, and bein’ wit’ them all the time, practicin’ and studyin’ to maintain our academic standin’, was good for me. The results showed.

My teammates all became my closest friends, and we really did our best. We made it to the national quarter finals, but once again, Kaiba, the motherfucker, showed up and ruined our chances. Bronze ain’t so bad, though. It was good enough to get the attention of college recruiters, and we ended up gettin’ scholarships, recruited to different colleges.

It was tough to go separate ways, and I missed ‘em somethin’ fierce, but it was nice to be away from the shithole I called home. Out on my own. My own dorm room, even though I had to share. Wasn’t so bad, even if my roommate was kinda a dick sometimes, stayin’ up too late talkin’ on the phone to kami only knows. Not like I ever cared. I just slapped in my old-ass headphones, turned up my music, and tried to get enough sleep to make it in to weightlift in the mornin’.

Of course, there was the bad part of the baseball team.

Kaiba.

Reunited, but on the same team this time.

And I still hated him for everythin’. The loss in the quarter finals. All the wins he’d lead against us. Him callin’ us losers. Ditchin’ us for a better school.

Fucker.

He ignored me at first, which only pissed me off more, up until we were paired up by Coach Matsumoto. He’d told us, “You’re both here because you’re the best freshmen in the country for the positions we’re going to need to fill. I know you two are from rival schools, but you’re on the same team now, so you’ll have to learn how to work together.”

Sayin’ we didn’t work well together would’a been a major understatement.

We couldn’t communicate for shit. We couldn’t even look at each other. I’d signal for a fastball, he’d send me a curveball. Curveballs instead of breakin’ pitches. Every single fuckin’ time. We ended up practicin’ and playin’ with other teammates. I was paired up with the junior pitcher, Saitama-kun, who usually closed up the games. Kaiba often pitched second, paired up with a laid-back senior catcher, who was really only there for fun. He didn’t wanna go pro or nothin’.

I guess thinkin’ back it woulda been smarter to start workin’ together sooner. Even if our personalities are like oil and water, we do make a good pair when we try. But in our freshman year, ain’t no way that was gonna happen. Too many hard feelin’s and shit. I think we still got some of those hard feelin’s, but we found a way past it. Not that we really talk all that much, but we can get the job done. We’re really fuckin’ good at gettin’ the job done in the bedroom, too.

I’d never have expected that chemistry to be so mind blowin’. But that was kinda a mistake, anyway. Oh well.

Coach Matsumoto redirected my thoughts, talkin' about our practice schedule in the off-season. Weight liftin' Monday and Thursday. Runnin' Tuesday and Saturday. Kaiba and I would practice with the other pitchers and catchers on Monday and Wednesday. Then battin' practice Tuesday and Friday. A full schedule, for sure, but it's what I wanted more than anythin'. I loved it more than anythin' except maybe my sister.

We all made our way to the weight room, working with the trainers to get through our individual workouts. Once classes started back up, our weightliftin' time would be early in the mornin'. Wake up, workout, classes, baseball practice, and squeezin' in assignments between everythin' else.

It was one of the reasons I was glad for Kaiba bein' my roommate. For as much of a prick as he was, he was fuckin' smart. He'd blow though his schoolwork and, usually, help me out with mine. Private tutorin' that usually led to us arguin' over somethin' petty and then fuckin' each other senseless. I'm pretty sure Kaiba likes it just as much as I do. 

I'd picked to major in English only because I wanted to end up playin' pro ball in the US. Figured it'd be easier to adjust if I already knew the language pretty well. But it ain't easy. Fortunately, Kaiba just knows this shit. Ain't gotta clue if that's because of his smarts, his prissy ass private school, or the fact he's a rich asshole. Prolly all three. 

Now that I've got to my last year, it ain't that hard anymore. The grammar is shit to follow sometimes, but like, I got a pretty good handle on it. Me and Kaiba sometimes even just talk to each other in English just cuz. Practice for the both of us, though it's mostly tradin' insults and dirty talk.

It's how we, after practice, made good on Kaiba's earlier promise to let me fuck him four hours later. Back at the apartment, drenched in sticky sweat, I'd followed him into the bathroom. I couldn't help starin' at his ass, all shapely and round in his practice pants, 'specially as he worked 'em off. God. My dick was already gettin' hard.

"You're fuckin' hot, ya know that?"

"Please, Jounouchi. You're the only one who thinks that."

I scoffed. The man knew he was a fine piece of ass. Always actin' all cocky and full of himself. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"You're so mouthy."

"Shut the fuck up, Kaiba. Ya like my mouth."

Kaiba lips twitched into a smirk. "Put it to use then, if I like it so much."

"Which pleasure," I retorted. I reached up, windin' my arms around his neck to pull him toward me, crushin' his lips into a forceful kiss. For as cruel and rough as his words could be, it always surprised me how soft his lips were. He always tasted and smelled so good too. The Yves Saint Laurent cologne he always wore with its apple and sage notes but also his own natural scent, too. Masculine and captivatin'. Pullin' me in. There was just somethin' about him, now that we got along okay for the most part, that I couldn't resist.

His pants were on the ground, quickly joined by my shorts. He eased my shirt over my head, and then pulled me into him, his tongue dippin' into my mouth and floodin' me with white hot lust. I sucked on his intrudin' tongue, nippin' on his lower lip as he pulled back to remove his own shirt. Down to only our boxers, I leaned into his chest, wrappin' my arms around 'im.

"Gonna get in the shower?" He grunted in acknowledgement. "Want me to join ya?"

"Tch."

But that always meant yes. Specially when he grabbed me by the shoulders, spun me around, and pushed me toward the shower. I laughed at his enthusiasm. "Hey! Hey hold on! Lemme get my boxers off first."

He let me, doin' so himself at the same time. But once we were both naked, it was back to gettin' it on. Water runnin', lukewarm to keep us from gettin' too sweaty, we crammed into the small shower. I had him pinned against the wall, kissin' his neck and drawin' those delicious moans from him. Ain't nothin' that feels quite like havin' Kaiba fall apart for me.

I grabbed his cock as it pressed against my stomach, givin' it a few long, slow strokes. He shuddered beneath my touch, leanin' his head forward and pressin' our foreheads together. "Get on with it, Jounouchi," he demanded.

I kissed him, knowin' that he didn't actually want what he demanded. Kaiba liked bein' teased, but it embarrassed him so he never owned up to it. I never minded. Instead, I kissed my way to his neck, down his torso, gettin' on my knees to take his cock in my mouth.

A strangled groan tore from the back of his throat at the first bob of my head along his dick. I was pretty sure he'd been thinkin' about this all mornin'. My own cock twitched at the thought. Kaiba bein' hot for me got me goin' more than I already was. With vigor, I sucked him off, nose dippin' into the bed of soft brown curls at the base of his dick with each downward motion.

I reached out to snatch up the shower lube. Yeah, this happened often enough to need a designated bottle of lube for in the shower. As I kept my slow and steady pace workin’ his cock, I teased his asshole with a lube coated finger, feelin' him tense up at the proddin'. I hummed and looked up at him. He reached out and brushed my wet bangs away from my face, givin' me a nod of approval to continue.

I pushed my finger in, wigglin' it a bit to get 'im to relax. He grunted, his muscles tightenin' up around me. I used my free hand to message the skin at his hip bone, still bobbin' my head at a steady pace. I felt 'im relax and eased a second finger in, workin' at 'im more vigorously.

"Fuck, Jounouchi," he gasped, threadin' his fingers into my hair and tuggin' my head closer. I glanced up to see him fling his head back, eyelids flutterin'. He was tensin' up again, but it was different this time. He was close. "I'm going to cum," he hissed.

I didn't change anythin' about what I was doin', and within moments, my mouth was filled with Kaiba's hot cum while my ears listened to the string of curses he let out. I swallowed it down, pullin' off his cock, and standin' up. I went to kiss him again, but he pushed my face away. 

"I don't enjoy the taste of my own cum, Jounouchi," he admonished, breathless from his orgasm. “You know that.”

"Ya like the taste of mine well enough, though," I shot back, leanin' forward to nip at his neck. My dick rubbed against his thigh, precum beadin' at the tip and smearin' on him. I was really fuckin' horny.

Kaiba didn't reply to me, lettin’ me pin him up against the shower wall. With my hands on his hips holdin' him in place, he wrapped a leg around my waist pullin’ me close. "Fuck me," he breathed into my ear, pleadin’.

I trembled at the desperation in his voice. He held onto me tightly when I lifted up his other leg. I eased myself into him, centimeter at a time until I was in completely. I rolled my hips gently at first, enjoyin' the way Kaiba grunted at the top of each movement. The way he held onto me tightly. The way he was so fuckin' tight around my cock.

I stayed slow for a while, drawin' things out as much as I was able, until Kaiba begged for more. He was hard again, juttin' up into my stomach, and I moved faster. I was startin' to get fatigued anyway. Holdin' him up for as long as I had, 'specially after practice and weightliftin' earlier, had my muscles screamed in protest. I pushed into him, powerful long thrusts makin' him quiver around me. He was cursin' under his breath, eyes squeezed closed as he dug his fingernails into my shoulders.

I felt my own orgasm approachin', all my muscles tensin' as the edge of pleasure neared. Like goosebumps pricklin' every nerve in my body. My toes curled. And then I came. Hard. Fast. Cum spillin' into Kaiba's ass as I pulled him flush against me. He was close too, so I wrapped my hand around him and stroked as I caught my breath. He leaned forward and bit down on my shoulder, comin' with a long, low groan.

I held him there for a few seconds more, catchin' my breath while lettin' him do the same. I dropped his legs, stayin’ close to make sure he wouldn't fall or nothin'. He leaned against me for support while breathin' hard, sayin' nothin'. Not like I expected him to. Bastard.

When he was composed enough, he gently pushed me back and away from ‘im, goin' about his shower as though nothin' had just happened. Which was normal for us. Disappointin' but normal. I washed up, too, not really sure what to say to him but wantin' to say somethin'.

Shower done, we both toweled off and got changed. The silence still hung over is. That was unusual. We usually wasted no time in gettin’ back to arguin' with each other. Not unless we were sleepin'. But this livin’ together thing was new for us. And we’d been apart for the whole summer break. Must’a been that makin’ it awkward between us. He sat down on the couch, messin’ with his laptop.

I really didn't know what to say to Kaiba as I tried to find something to make myself for lunch. Nothin'. We'd only just moved into this place together, so it wasn't exactly a surprise. I'd crashed at my pal Honda's place over the summer. Kaiba had gone back to his fancy ass mansion. Despite livin' in the same city, I'd only seen him maybe twice the whole summer. We hadn't even spoken except for Kaiba callin' to tell me he'd found an apartment for us. I don't know why he insisted on a two bedroom since we'd shared a bed every time I was over at his last place, but if he insisted and the rent wasn't more than my limit, I wouldn't argue.

So our new apartment didn't have any food. Kaiba'd been here longer than me by like a week though, so I wasn’t exactly sure why he hadn't gotten any food. Oh right. Rich asshole. Prolly just ordered somethin' for every meal.

With a sigh, I grabbed my wallet. Might as well go to the market for some essentials. I was halfway out the door when Kaiba finally broke the silence between us, askin’, "Where are you going?"

"Store. Need anything?"

"I'll come along," he said, settin’ his laptop down and standin’ up.

"Good," I said when he approached. "Now you can buy."

He simply nodded in acknowledgement. I wasn’t really sure what was up with him, but he was bein' a lot quieter than usual. I couldn't take it, the awkward feelin’ between us, so I just started talkin' for the hell of it. "Practice schedule kinda sucks this year, don't it."

"Mmm."

"I'm kinda worried about it cuttin' time to do my homework. I mean, I ain't all that concerned about school, but I gotta do okay enough to keep playin', right?"

Kaiba hummed in agreement again.

"Ya gonna help me like last year?"

"I suppose I can," he said reluctantly.

"Ya don't have to if ya don't wanna," I said, though I felt a pang of disappointment. I was really hopin’ he’d help me out.

"It's fine, Jounouchi. I’ll help."

We were walkin' closer to each other than usual. I coulda reached out and taken his hand if I wanted to. ‘Course, I didn’t want to though. We were just… I dunno what you’d call us. What we had goin’ ain’t like a normal relationship. Fuckin’ on the regular. But casual. Not even really friends with benefits ‘cause we weren’t even friends. Not really. But we tolerated each other okay enough. Okay enough to live together, at least. Neither one of us was sleepin’ with anyone else either. I suppose I’d just call it complicated. We don’t like each other, not like that, but we don’t dislike each other.

I stepped to the side to make some space between us, stickin’ my hands in the pockets of my gym shorts. “You should have worn a t-shirt,” Kaiba commented randomly.

“Huh?”

“There’s a mark from earlier.”

I shrugged. No one knew about us. Whatever we were. They’d think I hooked up with some random chick. No big deal, even if it was a little embarassin’. “No one’s gonna know who gave it to me.”

He huffed quietly, almost soundin’ offended. “It’s disgusting.”

“Yeah, yeah. Says the reason it’s there at all. If ya think it’s ‘disgustin’, don’t do it anymore.”

“Tch.”

I chuckled. Of course he was gonna do it more. It was kinda his thing. Bitin’ me. I’d left a mark on his neck, too, but he was wearin’ a high collar to cover it up. His problem. Not mine.

We made our way to the grocery store, stockin’ up on necessary supplies. I cooked for us pretty often, makin’ sure we stayed pretty healthy. Workin’ out and practicin’ all the time meant we had to stay on top of our diet pretty well. It had gotten a lot easier since I’d stopped goin’ out and partyin’ all the time. And I’d stopped doin’ that when I’d started spendin’ more time with Kaiba. Honestly, as much as I didn’t like bein’ around ‘im at first, it had definitely had more positives than negatives.

We had grabbed lunch when we went out, eatin’ before goin’ back. Kaiba sat back down on the couch, workin’ on whatever on his laptop. I headed to the bedroom to take a nap prior to our evenin’ practice session. This would be a long year, but I was excited. One year to determine my future. And I was rarin’ to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you're enjoying this! Please let me know! ^^ It's an idea I've been holding onto for months, so I'm interested in knowing how this somewhat odd concept is received.
> 
> Thanks for reading! See you next time!


	2. Sophomore

Somehow, I managed to make high marks in all my classes, which was kinda a surprise but also not really with Kaiba helpin' me. Finals had sucked balls. It was always the worst time of the year. Writin’ papers and studyin’ for exams while practicin' for the upcomin' baseball season. I was glad that I was gonna be done with school after this semester.

I decided not to go home durin’ the winter break since I didn’t really miss my dad and gettin' home cost too much money. Instead, I’d managed to talk my sister into comin’ out for a visit. She was attendin’ college within ‘bout an hour away from me, so a break was a good time for a visit.

It was just her and I spendin' the weekend in the apartment. Kaiba had gone home, though I could tell he’d been reluctant about it. He didn’t like bein’ at home. Couldn’t guess why. Had to have been a lot nicer than our little apartment. ‘Specially since he lived in a mansion. 

I met her at the train station on the day she came. Greetin' her on the train platform she ran up to me. “Nii-chan!” she exclaimed, wrappin’ me in a hug. I took up her bags, and we headed back to the apartment.

I showed her to my room which I’d tidied up for her. It was pretty much just clothin' storage. I gave her some time to settle in a bit while tryin' to figure out what the plan was gonna be. She came out with a big grin on her face. “So where’s your roommate? I wanted to meet him.”

“He went back home. Doubt I coulda had ya come out if he were here,” I explained. “Though I suppose I coulda slept on the couch and let ya stay in my bed." I woulda slept on the couch, too. Ain’t like I wanted to tell my sister about how I was fuckin’ my roommate. She’d wanna make it into more ‘an it was. So no sharin’ beds while he was around. No talkin' about him at all if I could help it.

“He’s okay with you sleeping in his bed while I’m here?” she asked.

“He said it was fine.” Kaiba certainly didn’t care. I hadn't even asked about it. Something about sharin' his bed nightly made it seem irrelevant. He had agreed to Shizuka comin' though. “So what do ya want for dinner?” I asked, changin’ the subject.

"I'd love to go to one of your usual places,” she said, smiling.

“Then I know just the place. It’s a ramen shop a couple streets over. I go whenever I’m lazy and don’t feel like cookin’.”

“You cook?” she asked curiously.

“When I got time. Helps with eatin’ right.”

“Oh,” she said, pullin’ on her coat before followin' me out the door. “I didn’t realize you cared about stuff like that.”

“I didn’t used to,” I admitted. “But since I wanna go pro in the US one ‘a these days, I figure I should eat for success, you know? Fuel my body right.”

“That makes sense. Think you’ll get picked up by a team when you graduate?”

“By someone. I’ve talked to a few scouts for minor league teams this year. ‘At’s a pretty good start.”

“It is. I’m rooting for you, nii-chan.”

I grinned at her, holdin’ the door to the ramen place open for her as we arrived. We ordered, slurpin’ down steamin’ hot noodles and vegetables. Delicious and salty, as always. Between bites, we talked non-stop, catchin' up after not seein' each other for awhile.

We finished up eatin' dinner, headed back to the apartment, and promptly changed into pajamas. I joined her in the livin' room area, sittin' on couch together while some drama played in the background. “So… are you seeing someone?” she asked me playfully.

“Nah.”

“Oh. I could have sworn you were. Your bed doesn't seem like it's used all that often. I could tell.”

I laughed nervously. “I sleep there plenty.”

She nudged me playfully. “No, you don't. That’s a cheap futon. If you were sleeping there, you’d have made a dip in it. It would smell like you. And it’s definitely brand new. So… you’re sleeping somewhere else.”

God, she was scarily observant. “That's such a creep thing to say," I muttered. When her calculatin', self-assured gaze didn't falter, I flushed. "Okay, fine. But just because I’m sleepin’ somewhere else doesn’t mean I’m seein’ someone.”

“You don’t have to tell me the details. I’m just curious. Is she cute?”

I made a face at her. “I'm not seein’ anyone, I swear.”

“So she  _ is _ cute?”

I sighed and decided to come halfway clean. I wouldn't tell her everythin' but I didn't want to lie to her. Everyone else could fuck off, but I couldn't lie to my baby sister. “Sometimes. And it's a he. He's cute sometimes.”

She blinked rapidly as she processed the words. “He? Wait, so… you’re gay?”

I cringed. I hated bein’ called that, no matter how true it actually was. I didn't lecture Shizuka about why I hated it, so I pretended as though she hadn't. “Don’t tell no one. I ain’t ready for anyone to know. And the guy isn’t like… well he’s not like my boyfriend or nothin’. We jus’ sleep together sometimes.”

Except  _ sometimes _ was  _ always _ at this point.

“I won’t tell anyone. But I’m kind of… surprised.”

“I think most people would be if I told ‘em. But I don’t want ‘em to know. It ain’t none of their business.”

“Well, when you’re ready, I’ll be supporting you, nii-chan. Always.”

“Thanks, Shi-chan.” She didn’t press me for more information, but it was weird havin’ someone else know all of a sudden. It felt kinda relievin' though, not havin' to keep the secret all to myself. She changed the subject after my impromptu comin' out, launching into tellin’ me about the guy she liked. I was grateful for that. And as she told me about the guy, showing me pictures of him on her phone, I promised her that I’d always be supportin' and protectin' her.

-

Kaiba came back at the end of break in an especially shitty mood. He didn’t talk to me for a few days, which was pretty common whenever he got back from a trip home, though we still shared a bed. I kinda wondered what it was like if it made him so irritable. However, I didn’t put much thought into it. There was plenty of other shit to be thinkin’ about. Foremost of which was classes. 

Easily, one of the best parts of bein' a senior was that, after takin' so many classes on other semesters to be able to graduate, I didn't have to take all that many classes. My fall semester had been four classes. The spring term was gonna be even easier. Three classes, all on Monday and Wednesday. 

Practice had ramped up too now that baseball season was fast approachin'. The light course load would make life easier as I lived and breathed baseball. More runnin', more battin', more everythin'. As much as we could manage.

It was the first Saturday after class had started up, and I was sittin' at the kitchen table, tryin' to write up a self introduction essay in English when Kaiba walked in. Freshly showered and smellin' really good, I glanced up at him while he opened up a cabinet and looked through it.

"Whatcha doin'?" I asked.

"That's none of your concern."

"Fine, whatever." I kept an eye on him though as he pulled out items and replaced 'em.

Practice had been kind of brutal this mornin'. Runnin' out in the frigid January cold. I was exhausted, the cold penetratin' down to my bones and my lungs still achin'. We'd gotten back, and Kaiba had immediately gone to the shower. He always did because he hated stayin' covered in sweat, but he'd been shiverin'. I hadn't bothered to join him, knowin' I needed to knock out my assignment before goin' out that night to celebrate my birthday. The whole team had invited me to come get dinner and a few drinks, and I knew it would be a little more than that. I'd almost certainly have a hangover in the mornin'.

Kaiba was still rummagin' through the cabinets. "What are ya lookin' for?" I asked.

"Tea. Why don't we have any?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. You never asked for any before. I can go get ya some."

"No," he replied. "You'll just buy cheap, shitty tea. I'll be back." He left after that, leavin' me to work on my assignments in solitude. It was actually helpful, and I got mostly finished. I stretched and yawned, wantin' a nap.

I crawled into bed and drifted off, only wakin' up when Kaiba crawled in beside me. He laid there silently, and I wondered if he'd already fallen asleep. Clearin' my throat, I asked, "Hey so, you comin' out with us tonight?"

"No," Kaiba grunted.

I sighed, disappointed. "I can't convince you even though it's my birthday?"

"It's not your birthday yet."

I groaned and rolled away from him. "Asshole."

He didn't bother shiftin' closer or sayin' anythin' else. But if he was gonna ignore my birthday celebration, I was gonna ignore him. Huffin', I stood up and headed to the shower to get ready to leave. It would be nice goin' out and havin' a night away from Kaiba for once. They rarely happened anymore. 

Pullin' on jeans and a hoodie with the college's mascot silk screened on the front, I looked down at Kaiba who was sleepin' in bed. He looked real peaceful, curled up on his side and face completely relaxed. Cute. It was weird for him to be sleepin' at all given the hour, but I wasn't gonna disturb his beauty sleep.

I walked out, slidin' my shoes on before headin' to the bar, which was only a short walk away. I ordered myself a drink while waitin' for the others to show. Somethin' about leavin' Kaiba back at the apartment reminded me of our sophomore year. The very end of it. When Coach Matsumoto had forced the issue of me and Kaiba not gettin' along. Sayin' something like:  _ Until you two start working together, you will be riding the bus together, rooming together. Everything you can do together, you will be. So get used to it. _

I'd gotten used to it. Eventually. We both had. 

Everythin' started when I'd come back to the hotel room we'd been forced to share after a night out. Last game of the regular season, and we’d won. We were celebratin’. Kaiba hadn’t come along because of course he hadn’t. He was always kinda anti-social and never really went to anythin’ other that mandatory team functions. I didn’t think he knew how to have fun.

Anyway, I got back after a night of drinkin’, more than just a little tipsy, and I’d walked in on him with a massive boner. He had his hands bracing himself against the wall, lookin’ in absolute anguish. The frustration on his face plain as day, even in my inebriated state.

“Why don’t ya go to the bathroom an’ take care of that?” I’d suggested teasingly.

He’d actually growled at me, barin’ his teeth. “Fuck off, Jounouchi.”

“Kinda looks like ya need to beat off to me.”

His fists curled tightly, and I thought we were gonna have a fight. So I was really surprised when he blew air out through his teeth. “I can’t,” he seethed.

“What do ya mean ‘can’t’?” Literally nothin’ I’d ever heard before or since was as ridiculous as that single statement.

“Tch. Your arm isn’t as valuable as mine.”

It had taken a little for me to understand what he meant, but finally I realized that he didn't want to risk hurtin' his pitchin' arm. I burst out laughin’ right in his face. “Ya got a left hand too, ya know? But no wonder you’re such a dick all the time if ya ain’t gettin’ any. Not even a little  _ me time _ .”

If I’d been thinkin’ a little clearer, I’d have never done what I did after that. I’d stepped into his space and jerked him off. And his moans had gotten me hard too. Like it was one of the sexiest things I’d ever heard, Kaiba all breathless and gruntin’. All cuz of me. And after that, there was no goin’ back. It was a lil’ awkward the first couple of times he’d sought me out, fumblin’ through foreplay. He would be insultin’ me and my skills, but the more he kept comin’ back, the more I realized it was all bravado. That was how we ended out our sophomore year, fuckin’ for the first time. My first time with a guy, makin’ me realize that, despite the fact it was Kaiba and ‘at brought its own kind of anxiety, I was far more comfortable with men than I’d ever been with a woman. I knew what I was doin’. And I liked it. I can’t say Kaiba made any deep realizations about himself. We ain’t ever talked about it, but he clearly liked it.

Now we were livin' together of our own free will. And maybe our individual self interests. Though admittedly, I didn't think the fuckin' was quite the same anymore. It wasn't just the thrill of gettin’ off like it had used to be. We'd take our time and make it feel good. Like we fuckin' cared about each other or some shit.

I took a long swig from the glass of beer in front of me. I couldn’t exactly deny that I cared. I was feelin' pissy ‘cause he hadn't come along. I wanted him around and was already missin' him. I pulled my phone out. Several messages from the guys with estimated arrival times. Some of 'em were seein' if they could bring their girlfriends. I told 'em sure. I didn't care one bit. I was more curious if, like the first time, I’d come back to Kaiba hangin’ out in the apartment with a boner. Prolly wishful thinkin', but a man can dream durin' his birthday celebration.

I opened up my ongoin' stream of messages with Kaiba. We never talked about anythin' too serious. Just givin' each other heads up if we were gettin' back late or gonna bring home carry out for dinner. Simple stuff. Surprisin'ly domestic stuff. I pushed that thought aside.

_ « Me: I'm kinda bummed that u aren't coming tonite _

_ » Kaiba: I know. _

_ « Me: Would u change your mind if I like...offered to do something fun for u tonite when I get home? _

_ » Kaiba: No. Not tonight. I don't feel well. _

I'd have thought he was lyin' to me just to avoid comin' except it explained his uncharacteristic sleepiness. It also explained his demand for tea. So instead of givin' him a hard time, worry crept up on me. In the last three and a half years we'd been around each other consistently, I'd never once seen him sick.

_ « Me: Want me to come back and take care of u? _

_ » Kaiba: That's not necessary. I'll manage. _

_ « Me: If u say so. I'll try not to stay out too late tho _

A pat on the back startled me, and I closed my phone to look up and see the first baseman, Akanishi-kun, behind me, as well as several more of my teammates. I tried to push Kaiba to the back of my mind as we drank and chatted away, but I still couldn't stop worryin' about him.

At some point a few drinks in, a cute girl came up and sat down beside me. I didn't know her, but judgin' from the jacket she wore with our school name on it, I figured she was a fellow student. It was easy enough to talk about classes and what we were studyin'. "I'm a big fan of the baseball team," she eventually told me, fiddling with her hair.

"Same," I replied.

She giggled. "You're so funny, Jounouchi-kun."

I smiled at her. "I always aim to please. Well...maybe it's more like I catch what's being thrown my way."

A terrible joke, but she laughed all the same. We made small talk for a while longer, drinkin' more, and when she wandered away to go to the bathroom, our shortstop, Tomohisa, elbowed me in the ribs. "Someone's getting lucky tonight."

I scoffed. "Nah."

"Seriously, Jounouchi? She's throwing herself at you!"

I shrugged. I knew that without him tellin' me. I knew she was flirtin' with me, but that didn't mean I wanted it to go any further. "I ain't particularly interested in catchin' her," I said back.

Akanishi gasped. "What? She's super hot though!"

I just shook my head. Sure, she was good lookin', but I wasn't really lookin' for no one. The thought felt like a punch in the gut only 'cause I knew I wasn't lookin' because I had Kaiba.

Tomohisa interjected, "Are you fucking kidding me, Jounouchi? You're turning down a babe like that?"

"I mean...yeah," I finally answered. "I'm gonna pass on hookups. Been there, done that. Ain't as good as somethin' steady."

"You didn't used to care," Akanishi accused. "You've really changed since you started living with Kaiba. It's turned you into a prude, just like him."

"Have not. It's been real good for me. Only big change is that I'm way more disciplined with 'im around. And he ain't exactly the biggest prude I've ever met or nothin'."

"Oh, and you know he's not a prude because you've fucked him?" Tomohisa quipped. "Come on. Kaiba's the biggest virgin I've ever met."

I knew he was jokin' around with me, but the fact that he'd hit the nail right on the head had me panickin'. We didn't want no one to know about us and what we were doin'. Our dirty little secret. I'd only told Shizuka because I knew I could trust her. I promptly denied his first claim, sayin', "No fuckin' way. I ain't fuckin' Kaiba."

The lie felt desperate. Hurtful to say out loud. Like I'd said it with Kaiba standin' right beside me, and it didn't feel right even though he wasn't. I hung my head, ashamed of myself. But I couldn't prove 'em right. I couldn't give away our secret like that. So I ended up followin' the girl home. Each step felt wrong. Like I was betrayin' Kaiba. And myself too.

We were in her apartment, and she was on her knees with my dick in her hands when I couldn't take the sickenin' feelin' of guilt. I didn't want to have some random chick blow me. I wanted it to be Kaiba. Which reminded me that he was back at the apartment, sick and probably waitin' for me to get back.

I stepped away from her and fastened my pants back up. "Hey, I'm sorry. I let the guys talk me into this, but I'm kinda interested in someone else." I darted out the door before she could question me. I couldn't really explain myself. It felt like cheatin' even though Kaiba and I weren't actually together. Guilt was eatin' away at me as I jogged back toward the apartment.

At least the night was clear and calm. The cold hung over the town like a blanket, but without a breeze, it was manageable in my sweatshirt. I made it back with a layer of sweat on my skin, and stoppin' to unlock the door to the apartment was when the cold finally sank in. I shivered as I stepped inside and was grateful that Kaiba could afford to keep the apartment warm. I hoped that after runnin' in the frigid cold that I didn't get sick too. Practice through the rest of the week would suck if I did.

Still feelin' ashamed, I tried to give myself a pep talk to go say somethin' to Kaiba. Though he was probably sleepin' and wouldn't want to be woken up so I could tell him how I'd almost let some girl suck me off. Maybe it'd be better to say nothin'. I shook my head. Kaiba would figure it out no matter what I did, either from how I'd end up actin' about the whole thing or the guys who'd seen me leave the bar with her, and he'd be more pissed if I said nothin'. I'd just wait until he was up before bringin' it up.

Resolved, I opened the bedroom door, tryin' to stay quiet. Kaiba sniffled, a cough tearin' from his throat. It sounded terrible. I peeled my clothes off, strippin' down to my boxers, and I climbed in bed next to him. He was warm. Almost feverishly warm.

When he rolled over, he groaned. "You okay?" I asked quietly.

Hoarsely, he replied, "Fine."

"Ya don't sound fine."

"I'll be fine," he muttered.

I drew in a deep breath. "Can we talk?" It probably wasn't the best time, but since he was up. I wanted to tell 'im.

"Why?"

"I uh… I fucked up tonight." He was silent, waitin' for me to continue. "We were out and drinkin', and Akanishi and Tomohisa started givin' me shit for not wantin' to go home with some girl. Insinuated I was gay and had fucked you. Which I have, so I panicked. Went home with her to prove 'em wrong."

Kaiba's sore throat did nothin' to cover the icy way he asked, "Did you fuck her?"

"No. I didn't. When it got a little...past just kissin', I couldn't handle that it wasn't you." I could feel the blush heatin' my cheeks at the confession. "It was stupid of me, I know. I'm sorry, too. I won't do nothin' like it again."

Kaiba hummed beside me. "It  _ was _ stupid."

"I wanted to tell ya myself though. Come clean before ya find out from the rest of the guys. They'll prolly talk about it in the locker room ‘cause they saw me leave with her, and I jus' want ya to know I didn't cheat on ya."

"Would it be cheating?" Kaiba murmured.

I didn't have an answer for him. Whatever nebulous definition we assigned to our relationship didn't explicitly say whether or not sleepin' with someone else was okay. I just knew it felt wrong. Kaiba's somewhat upset tone suggested he felt about the same. "I ain't tryin' to be with anyone else but you," I told him, wrappin' an arm around his waist. “I care about ya, you ass.”

He simply hummed in acknowledgement. Cuddlin’ against his back, I let myself relax. He was comfortable, and I was glad my mistake didn’t seem to be that big of a deal. I didn’t really know what we were or how to define this half carin’ while we pretendin’ we didn’t relationship between us, but I didn’t want it to end.

-

Kaiba woke up Sunday mornin' with a terrible sore throat. I hovered despite the mild hangover. Couldn’t help it because I wanted him to feel better. I made ‘im tea, insistin’ he should stay in bed.

“I’m fine, Jounouchi,” he croaked at me.

“No, ya ain’t. You’re pale and sound terrible. Jus’ lemme take care of ya. I ain’t gonna be around most of tomorrow to look after ya, and we got weight trainin’ in the mornin.”

He huffed but didn’t protest anymore after ‘at.

And I got to wake up Monday mornin’ with a headache bloomin’ behind my eyes and a scratchy throat. Kaiba was up and dressed, though he was missin’ his usual mornin’ sass. “I’m pretty sure ya gave me your cold,” I griped.

“Then you shouldn’t have insisted on taking care of me. Idiot.”

I reached out and squeezed his hand. “If I don’t, who else would?” I’d asked it softly, reflectively.

“I don’t need your help,” he told me coldly, yankin’ his hand away.

I sighed. “Don’t lie to yourself. We make a pretty good team. And even if ya don’t need my help, ya gotta admit it’s better than dealin’ with everythin’ all by yourself all the time.”

He rolled his eyes, pullin’ on his shirt and slinkin’ out of the bedroom. I dragged myself out of bed, bleary eyed and tired. I dragged myself to practice, feelin’ completely drained. God, I was gonna get chewed out, but there wasn’t much I could do beyond show up, power through, and hope to get some sleep between classes endin’ and afternoon practice.

Dressed in sweats and ready to go, I was a little surprised to find Kaiba waitin’ for me in the kitchen. He usually didn’t, headin’ to practice before me. He hated bein’ late. When I reached him, he pressed a mug into my hand. I raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Tea,” he explained flatly.

I couldn’t help the smile on my face at him returnin’ the favor. “Thanks.”

He sighed. “I do appreciate you, Jounouchi. And happy birthday.” He said nothin’ else as we walked to the weight room together, but he didn’t need to. He appreciated me. He'd wished me a happy birthday. He cared too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...things between them are changing. But what happens next?
> 
> Please let me know what you think. I think I'm more curious to know about this one than I usually am. XD


	3. Junior

A week before our first game in late February, Kaiba marched into the kitchen and abruptly stopped in front of me. His face was pinched, like he'd eaten somethin' sour. He'd interrupted me from my readin' so I didn't bother askin' him what was up. He'd tell me eventually if he wanted me to know.

Of course I was waitin' for it though. The way he'd come into the kitchen gave 'im away. He just was workin' through how to tell me whatever it was. It coulda been anythin'.

"You need to clean," he finally announced.

I looked up at him with an eyebrow cocked. Not what I'd been expectin' him to say at all. "It ain't that messy here. A couple of dishes to put away."

"Your room. Clean your room."

I scoffed at him. "Why? Kickin' me out of yours?"

He glared at me, arms crossed over his chest. "I won't ask you again. Clean up the clothes you have everywhere, or I'll throw all your shit away."

"Ya wouldn't dare," I said, standin' up to glare at him.

"Try me," Kaiba sneered.

I could tell he was serious. Antsy. Part of me wanted to pick a fight over his sudden and unreasonable demand. But I knew there was prolly a reason. I took a deep breath, willin’ myself to be patient with him. I didn't hold back often. Anymore, it was usually because if I pushed him into an argument, we usually ended up in bed. 

"Why do I need to clean?" I asked, reinin’ in my anger.

"I can't take the mess anymore," he returned flatly.

Somethin' about that answer seemed wrong. We'd been livin' together long enough for me to know that he didn't really care much about how I kept my room. Maybe jokin’ly mentioned that anyone who came over would wonder where I slept once or twice. So I had to wonder what he was tryin' so hard to keep secret from me. I pursed my lips and wracked my brain, but I got no closer to an answer. 

"I can't figure out why you're bein' like this right now," I told him, matter-a-fact. "What's goin' on? What're ya hidin' from me?"

"Nothing," he seethed.

"Kaiba," I said reachin' out to stroke his cheek. He pulled away from me, leavin' me even more confused and now a little hurt. "Why?"

His eyes burned with cold fire, but I could see the fear shakin' in 'em. He was scared, and Kaiba bein' scared had a sick feelin' twistin' in my gut. He was always confident and proud, so sure of himself and what he was doin', that seein' him like this only made me more concerned.

We stayed at a stand off in the kitchen for what felt like several minutes. Up until Kaiba sighed and stepped back over to me. "My  _ father _ will be here to visit after the game next weekend," he finally said.

"Oh." 

Kaiba never talked about the man, but I knew of him. Pretty much everyone did. Owner and CEO of one of the most successful companies in Japan. Rich as fuck. He seemed like a dick whenever he was on commercials. Someone important like him visitin' our humble abode would warrant a thorough cleanin'. That still didn't explain the fear in Kaiba's eyes or the way he was visibly holdin' himself in check. I reached out and pulled him into a hug, tryin' to offer whatever support I could, but he stayed rigid in my arms, even when I started pettin' his hair in the way I knew always got him to relax.

It took several minutes, but eventually, Kaiba went slack, leanin' against me and pressin' into me. "I'll help you clean," he murmured against my neck. "However, you can't share a bed with me while my father is here."

I tensed at that. "Why? He ain't stayin' here, is he?"

"No."

I was gonna ask why it mattered if the man wasn't stayin', but I knew the reason from the way he still trembled just a little bit in my arms. Kaiba was afraid of his father findin' out about us. Hell, I was afraid of my own father findin' out, too, but there was no way in hell my broke ass ol' man would be able to come for a visit. So while it made sense, it still kinda hurt to be pushed away. I sighed and held him tighter. "Okay. It'll suck bein' alone at night, but okay."

"It's just for a night, Jounouchi," he said, slidin' outta my arms. "You'll be fine."

I didn't say nothin' in response. I would be fine, but I'd miss bein' with him. I'd gotten attached to him. And I was worried. I knew his father was an ass. Kaiba always came back from his trips home in a pissy mood. Angry and difficult to get along with. If he was this on edge just knowin’ his father was comin’, what was gonna happen when Kaiba Gozaburo showed up?

-

The rest of the week was kinda a blur, cleanin' the place up and practicin' harder than ever for our openin' game. We were both stressed the fuck out because, in addition to Kaiba's father bein' there to watch the game, we both had recruiters comin' to watch us play. I couldn't say anythin' to Kaiba without him bitin' my head off. It put me in a shitty mood, but I held my temper in check. I could feel the pressure too, knew what it felt like just as well as Kaiba did, and he didn't deserve extra stress from me gettin' pissy with him in return.

I popped in head phones as I walked to our locker room with my gym bag in tow. Kaiba had left a while ago, snappin' at me that he was leavin' and that I better not make a mess before headin' out. Because he'd been an ass the last few days, I'd actually been avoidin' him as much as possible. We’d clean, and then I’d go sleep in my own room, leavin' him alone in his. Kinda sucked though. He’d said only one night, and it had been four instead.

I found Kaiba sittin' on the bench in the locker room with his head in his hands. He flicked his eyes up at me before lookin' away and standin' up to get dressed. No one else was here yet, just the two of us, so I wrapped my arm around his bare waist, briefly restin' my head against his shoulder. "Hey, you'll do great today. I got faith in ya."

The tension radiated off of him in waves. "Thanks," he said gruffly, allowin' me to hold him for a few moments. We parted just before the door opened, Coach Matsumoto walkin' in and sayin' hi.

"I'm counting on you two today," he said.

"We know," I said, speakin' for Kaiba since he definitely wasn't gonna say anythin' for himself. 

"Once the game is over, I'll be sure to talk to the recruiters that are here for both of you. I want to make sure you two both move up to the next level. You've proven yourselves and deserve it."

I felt inspired after that. Rarin’ to go. "Thanks, Coach," I said with a grin. I couldn't wait to prove him right.

-

We eked out a victory thanks to a double play in the bottom of the ninth inning. Kaiba had struck out a guy with a curveball, and when the guy on second base tried to steal third, I whipped the ball to the third baseman, Kenjiro. He'd tagged the guy out. It was enough to hold onto our one point lead. 

The stadium roared with cheers, and we shook hands with the opposin' team. We had a team meetin’ in the locker room to talk about the game, coach praisin’ us but also tellin’ us what we were goin’ to need to work on, and then I went off to talk to the minor league recruiters who'd come to watch me play. 

"That was an excellent play at the end, Katsuya." I held back how I flinched at the use of my given name, which had been butchered. Americans didn't know any better most of the time.

"Thanks!” I said, covering my grimace with enthusiasm. “And you can just call me, Jou, if you'd like."

"Wow, Jou, your English is very good," said the shorter of the two men.

"I've always wanted to play baseball in the States," I explained. "Made sense to major in English and make it easier to transition."

They laughed, and we talked a while longer, them promisin' me that they'd get back to me with an offer later. I was pleased with the game outcome, my performance, and the conversation. Things were linin' up perfectly.

Finally finished, I went and grabbed my shit from the locker room, and headed back home. I'd lost track of Kaiba is the post-game bustle, so I checked my phone to see if he’d tried to contact me. No messages from 'im. Oh well. He'd get back to the apartment eventually. He needed to talk to recruiters too and likely had to go get dinner or somethin' with his dad.

Almost home, I messaged Shizuka about winnin' the game and gettin' to talk to some Americans about playin' on their team. She called me back immediately, and I flopped down on my own, rarely used bed.

"I'm so excited for you, nii-chan!" she exclaimed.

"Me, too," I agreed.

"Does your boyfriend know?"

"I told ya he ain't my boyfriend," I said with a sigh.

"Okay, okay. Whatever you call him. Does he know?"

I paused for a second, tryin' to decide if Kaiba did know. We hadn't really talked about it much, and he'd been distracted all week. But he did know I’d had recruiters there watchin’. "Not yet,” I answered. “Haven't had a chance to tell 'im, but he probably already knows."

"Aww. So you told me first?"

A smile spread on my face. "'Course I did."

“Perks of being the little sister,” she quipped.

“Yep.”

She was quiet for a moment. "So if he probably already knows about the recruiters and you didn't tell him… how does he know?"

Shit.

"He's pretty smart about this stuff." 

"He's on the baseball team with you, isn't he?" She asked it innocently enough, but I could hear the touch of smug confidence in her voice. She knew she was right.

"Yeah," I breathed.

"Your roommate? Kaiba-kun?" she asked immediately, like she'd already known.

Why the hell was she so good at this? "Yeah,” I whispered. “It's him."

"I kind of thought so. You hadn't complained about him much recently. Not like you used to. Plus then you started living together, and he was okay with you sleeping in his bed when I came to visit. It just seemed like something had changed."

"Yeah," I agreed. "We get along a lot better now."

She snickered. "Clearly."

"Seriously, don't tell no one."

"I won't, nii-chan. But I do want you to introduce me to him even more now."

"Then come to one of our games, and I'll introduce ya. We have a few Saturday games this year. We ought to be able to work somethin' out."

She agreed enthusiastically, and we wrapped up our conversation. I disconnected the call and stripped to go take a shower. I had no idea when Kaiba and family would be arrivin', but I wanted to be dressed and ready for when they showed.

-

"This place is a shithole," Kaiba Gozaburo said with a sneer.

Kaiba stood wordless, head bowed, just acceptin' the insult. It was the most humbled I'd ever seen Kaiba, and I was instantly on edge. It wasn't like him, and it pricked at something in my mind. The expression on his face clear as day, and one I knew well. The look of anger and fear, and suddenly the pieces clicked. Kaiba and I never talked about it, but I always wondered why a rich kid like him so desperately wanted to play professional baseball. And now I understood. He needed to go pro to escape out from under his father's abuse.

"How can you stand living somewhere as shitty as this?"

I walked into the kitchen, drawin' a glare from Kaiba. "Ain't that bad," I quipped. "I've seen worse."

"Of course a worthless lowlife like you has seen worse." I blinked, surprised at the insult. I wanted to retort, angry, but I bit my tongue to keep myself from sayin' somethin' stupid. Kaiba Gozaburo was not the kind of person to piss off.

I tried not to pay any attention to the insultin', ignorant shit he kept spoutin'. About me. The team. The apartment. The school. Worst of all, about Kaiba. It was no wonder Kaiba had been so on edge the last week and why he always came back in such a foul mood. Havin' to be around this man for more than about thirty seconds was too long. It made the things about Kaiba that I thought seemed weird before make a lot more sense. He'd been raised by this abrasive, conceited asshole and had to adapt to survive.

Instead of continuin' to allow myself to be mocked and belittled, I disappeared into my room. I still caught Gozaburo callin' me 'the worst catcher' for Kaiba to be paired with. A 'lazy ingrate worth less than a dog.' I bristled as I closed the door to my room.

Fuck that motherfucker. He didn't know shit about me.

I put on headphones, flushed red with anger. I wanted to punch somethin'. To scream out my rage. But that was childish, and I was better than that. I wouldn’t give that cocksucker any ammunition to use against me so he could continue puttin’ me down. So I sat down on my bed, pullin' the book I'd been assigned to read closer. I tried to read, but it was useless. I couldn't focus knowin’ that the prick was here. I could hear 'im talking from the other room, laughin' obnoxiously, but fortunately, I couldn't make out what he was sayin'. And if it were this bad for me after like two minutes, it could only be astronomically worse for Kaiba.

I gave up on my school work after about fifteen minutes and peeled off my clothes to climb in bed, but I couldn't sleep either. I just laid there, thinkin' about everything and wantin' to see Kaiba. Hopin' he was okay with whatever shit his dad was sayin' to him. I was sure it was awful, and I felt bad for him.

Tossin' and turnin', I eventually gave up on sleepin' too. I picked up my phone from the floor and started watchin' a movie. Finally, after about halfway through, I started to doze off.

A hand pressed against my back, wakin' me up as I felt the futon shift. Kaiba didn't say a word as he wrapped his arms around my waist, pressin' his forehead against the back of my neck. He just held me like that, clingin' to me. I could sense how upset he was, but I wasn't willin' to break the silence. He had to say somethin' first. He wasn't even supposed to be here in the first place.

He started tracin' circles on my abdomen with his fingers after several minutes, turnin' me on and eventually makin' my breath hitch in my throat. "You're awake," Kaiba remarked.

"Yeah. Ya woke me up."

He sighed, long and loud. "You shouldn't have spoken to him."

"Kinda figured that out. But I couldn't let him talk like that to ya. It really pissed me off."

Kaiba made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat.

"Is he always like that?"

"Mmm."

"He abused ya, didn't he?"

Kaiba froze, his hands no longer movin' along my abdomen. "Yes," he said, his voice cracking.

"I don't need to know the details unless ya want me to know 'em. But I know how it feels. What it looks like. My dad always calls me worthless, hittin' me, pushin' me around. He used to throw beer bottles and shit at me too. It's why I never go home. I can't stand 'im."

"It's similar," Kaiba admitted. "But he...I don't…Fuck. I hate him. He's not even my real father. They let that heartless fucker adopt children. They only cared about the fucking money."

I rolled over in Kaiba's arms. "Don't talk about it now. Ya can tell me later." I kissed his forehead. It didn't stop him from speakin' though, the mask concealin' his built up rage and hatred finally slippin'. He couldn’t keep it in anymore.

"He would have me beat if my performance was substandard. No food, no sleep, no rest until I did everything perfectly. He always tells me that if I'm not the best, I might as well kill myself. That I'm wasting my time playing some 'stupid sport' and would be better off dedicating my time to working at KaibaCorp. But fuck if I'm going to spend the rest of my life under his thumb. He's already using my brother to manipulate me. Blackmailing me into doing what he wants by threatening Mokuba. I have to be the fucking best pitcher in the whole fucking world so I can get us the fuck away from him."

He was tremblin' hard in my arms, and I could see him fightin' back bitter, angry tears in the dim light filtering in from the street lights. Kaiba had never been so open or emotional with me, and I knew how much it meant that he'd confided in me. I hadn’t known he had a brother. I hadn’t known he was adopted, either. It meant that there was probably no one else who knew. Just me. And that meant a lot more than words could express. I could feel righteous anger burnin' in me, too, and a strong, blindin' need to protect him.

Overwhelmed with feelin’s, I kissed him again, pullin' him close, dippin' my tongue in his mouth. He was willin', passionate, rollin' us so that I rested on top of him. I couldn't stop the avalanche of emotions tumblin’ through me as I settled between his legs, workin' down his boxer briefs. Heat pooled in my stomach, dancin' with anticipation at the way he arched toward me. I kissed down to his neck, suckin' and nippin' the flesh just how he liked as I slid my hand down his torso to his boner. I took it in hand, runnin' my thumb over the beadin' precum at the tip and marveling at how quickly he'd responded to me.

He moaned, loudly and with abandon, as I started strokin' him. "Fffuck," he hissed. "Inside. I want you inside."

I stopped long enough to get up and grab lube from my dresser drawer and pull off my own boxers before joinin' Kaiba in bed again. I pressed my lube-coated digits into Kaiba, makin' him whimper as a stretched him, all the while swirlin' my tongue around his nipples. He seemed to snap all at once, threadin' his fingers in my hair and draggin' me back to his mouth. I slid my own fingers out of his ass to balance myself as he did so, my own cock now restin' between his thighs. It twitched in anticipation. 

Kaiba let out a breathy, high pitched moan and broke the kiss, gasping. "Fuck me," he whispered hotly against my lips. He leaned forward and captured them again. "Fuck me, Katsuya."

How he'd said it sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine, my cock achin' for more. I wanted him just as bad as he wanted me. I buried myself deep within him, quiverin' at the pressure and his heat surroundin' me. I wasn't gonna last long this time. I didn't normally have problems lastin', but today had been so emotional and stressful, and I needed him so badly. My body craved the release.

"Seto," I moaned between kisses, rockin' into him.

"Katsuya," he panted in return. He was gettin' close too, his eyelids flutterin' and his body tensin' rhythmically beneath mine. I couldn't fight back my own orgasm, not with him bein' so fuckin' hot beneath me. I bit down on his neck and pushed into him as deeply as I could before comin' so hard stars dotted my vision. He mewled beneath me, stringin' curses together, and I was vaguely aware the he'd cum, too, his sticky release coatin' my stomach.

I kissed him one last time after I caught my breath. "I love ya, Seto." I hadn't meant to say it, but it was true. I'd truly fallen in love with him, and somethin' about what had just happened had made it crystal clear. It was never supposed to happen, but it was too late now. I couldn't take it back.

"I love you too, Katsuya," he sighed groggily. I stared down at him, his blue eyes unwaverin'. He meant it. I sighed in relief, fightin' back a laugh and wrappin' myself around him.

"I mean it. I love ya, and I'm here for ya. We'll accomplish our dreams together."

I rolled off of him after a few moments, grabbin' a handful of tissues from the box beside my bed to clean up our mess. Once we'd cleaned up, Kaiba snuggled close. Closer than usual. More needy. But that was okay. This was comfortable and right, and I wanted it to last forever. Maybe it was time to finally label us.

-

Kaiba was up and out of bed by the time I woke up the followin' mornin'. Prolly to see off his asshole adoptive father. Not sure when he'd be back, I got up and made myself breakfast. He'd come back eventually, and when he did, I’d be ready to take care of him. He was almost certainly gonna need it.

I watched some TV, surfed the internet, and managed to knock out most of my readin' for the week in advance by the time he got home. It was well after lunch time, but I hadn't eaten. "Did ya eat?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Neither did I. Wanna go get somethin'?"

He sat down on the couch next to me, taking my hand into his. My heart thumped in my chest. "No. I don't want to go anywhere else today. Order carry out."

"From where?" I asked, my voice soundin' high pitched even to my own ears.

"Doesn't matter."

I fumbled for my phone with my free hand, orderin' a pizza for us to share. As soon as I hung up, he was kissin' me. I gently pushed him back. "Hey, can we talk first? There's somethin' I wanna ask ya?"

Kaiba sighed and nodded.

"Okay cool. Last night...It made me realize some things. I meant it when I told ya I loved ya."

"I know," Kaiba said. "I meant it too."

"I know we've been involved for a while now, but I'm thinkin' we could consider ourselves more than just...I don't know. Whatever we are."

"Are you saying that you want to be boyfriends?" Kaiba asked flatly.

"Yeah," I answered softly. "That's exactly what I'm sayin'."

"I'm not opposed, but I still don't want to tell anyone."

I nodded. "I get it. I'll probably only tell my sister 'cause I can't keep a secret from her for the life of me. She won't say nothin' though."

"Mmm."

"So you're okay with...datin'? Makin' this official?"

"I already said I'm not opposed," Kaiba said.

"Okay, okay."

I started kissin' him again, dippin' to his neck, gettin more desperate with each passin' second. I swung my leg over his lap, straddlin' his legs, grindin' on him, and feelin' our growin' erections rub together through our pants. I got horny for him so fast. His hand settled on the center of my chest, warm and pleasant even as he pushed me away. I shot him a questionin’ look.

Flushed, he explained, "The pizza should be here soon."

I started laughin’ and stood up, readjustin’ the boner in my pants. "Ya got me all rarin' to go, and now you're gonna leave me high and dry?"

Kaiba smirked. "I'm not going to leave you like that."

There was a knock on the door before I could retort. The pizza. Kaiba had tracked the delivery time in his head down to the minute. Impressive. But the pizza was promptly set to the side, and Kaiba pushed me back down on the couch instead. He stretched me open as he lazily sucked me off. Before I came, he filled me with his cock, and I loved it. He always fucked me just the right way, but now, somehow, it was even better knowin' that we were actually somethin'.

Spent and sweaty after we both came, he draped on top of me. We stayed like that, sprawled across the couch, for a long time. Until the heat between us cooled into comfortable warmth and our sweat dried. My stomach grumbled, and Kaiba wordlessly slid off of me, reachin’ down to grab me my sweat pants while pullin’ on his own. Dressed and in desperate need of showers, we ate our lukewarm pizza in relative silence. But I couldn't help the little grin on my face. We were official.

Shizuka would be happy about it.

I was happy about it, too.

_ Boyfriends _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little quick with this update because a) it's been done since Sunday and b) my friends are dragging me places this weekend so I don't expect to have a chance to get around to it Friday or Saturday. I will try my best to get the next chapter out by the end of next weekend though. ^^ Only two more to go!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^^ Let me know what you think!


	4. Senior

Kaiba and I kept the lid on our relationship firmly sealed. We never really talked to each other much durin' practice before that point, so I didn't feel like I needed to start now. We practiced. We went back home. We had dinner and studied together. Sometimes we watched a movie. Other times we simply crawled in bed, tradin’ barbs and kisses. I loved our private moments more than anythin’ else.

The semester was quickly comin’ to a close, and thanks to us makin' it to nationals, we only had a few games left in our college career. I had two pretty solid offers for minor league teams in the US. The choice would come down to the pay and whether I preferred movin’ to Texas or California. The last game of the regular season would be the next day, a Saturday, and Shizuka was comin’ both to see me play and to meet Kaiba. Plus, I’d been pulling top marks in all my classes on top of everythin’, so I just felt really good about how everythin’ was goin’. Positive and upbeat.

Tonight had been one of those straight to bed kinda nights. With a game the next day, neither of us wanted to stay up too late and short ourselves on sleep. It left us snugglin’ together in bed, and I was startin’ to drift off when Kaiba’s phone vibrated. When he didn’t move, I asked, “Ya gonna answer that?”

“No,” he mumbled against my shoulder. “I’m not answering a call this late.”

Except it started vibratin’ again almost instantly. Kaiba groaned and rolled over to answer. Kaiba’s tone as he answered was clipped and on edge as he sat up. “Hello,” he said, and I knew exactly who it was. His adoptive father.

I could hear Kaiba Gozaburo’s loud, obnoxious voice through the phone, but I couldn’t make out what he was sayin’. Prolly a good thing. I could feel Kaiba grippin’ the sheets between us in his fist. “Why?” Kaiba asked, angry.

I reached out and took his hand, givin’ it a reassurin’ squeeze.

“Okay, Otou-sama. Yes. That’s fine.”

He sat quietly, listenin’ to whatever else the man had to say, grippin’ my hand tightly. “Yes. Goodbye.” Kaiba disconnected the call and flung his phone onto the nightstand.

“What was that about?” I asked cautiously.

“Mokuba is coming to the game tomorrow. And he’s going to have him stay here with us.”

“But what about-”

“Your sister? I am aware that will make this difficult. I think you know that I’m not in a position where I can tell Gozaburo ‘no’. Plus, it’s not often I get the opportunity to see Mokuba.”

I sighed. It was a minor inconvenience at most. “We’ll make somethin’ work. I’ll let Shizuka crash in my bed, which was the plan anyway. And I guess I’ll sleep on the couch. Mokuba can share with you.”

Kaiba made a face as he settled back in beside me, one I struggled to interpret. “I’d prefer to share with you.”

“Ya want him knowin’ about us?”

“No,” Kaiba breathed. “It’s too dangerous for him to know.”

“Then he should be wit’ you. It sucks bein’ apart, but it ain’t all that weird for ya to share with your brother. Especially, when we’ve got two overnight guests and one of ‘em is a girl.”

He exhaled slowly, resigned. “You’re right.”

“Is the fucker gonna be here too?” I asked, rollin’ toward Kaiba and drapin’ an arm over his waist, tryin’ to comfort him.

Kaiba shook his head, and I relaxed knowin’ that I wouldn’t have to see or interact with the man. “He’s sending a driver to drop Mokuba off at the stadium before the game.”

“Shizuka will be here to drop her stuff off in the mornin’ too. But you’ll prolly already be gone.”

“I’m heading in early,” he agreed.

“I know. You said ya had to talk Coach Matsumoto about somethin’.”

“An offer I received earlier in the week,” he explained. “I wanted his thoughts on it.”

“Cool,” I said with a smile, moving so that I could kiss him. We were both right where we wanted to be at this point in our college baseball careers. Gettin’ offers, makin’ choices about what team to play for and what to do. I was proud of ‘im, too, though I part of me wondered what would happen to us, to our relationship, once we inevitably had to split up. I didn’t want to think about it right now. Not with him kissin’ me back, trailin’ his lips down my neck, and teasin’ me with his fingers. 

His hand slipped into my boxers as he swirled his tongue around my nipple. I was hard, pantin’ as he worked the length of my cock, sweat formin’ on my brow. He left a path of saliva in the dip between my abs, makin’ his way to suck my cock, which he did as soon as he got there. My toes curled at the sensation. He stopped long enough to grab lube, lettin’ me get a good view of the tent he was pitchin’ in his boxer briefs. The cap snapped open and then closed, and his mouth was suckin’ me off again, while he eased a finger into me. When I was adjusted to it, he slid in a second one to stretch me, makin’ me cry out. There was somethin’ magical about the way Kaiba did blowjobs that left me strugglin’ not to fuckin’ cum right then and there. He prolly wanted me to. I’m pretty sure he got some kind of satisfaction at havin’ me cum twice for him or some shit.

I couldn’t hold back though, not with how he swirled his tongue against my slit while fingerin’ my ass. It was too fuckin’ good to hold back my orgasm. He swallowed all of my load, pullin’ off me with a wet pop. He rested his weight on top of me, kissin’ me, and lettin’ me taste my own cum. His cock prodded at my ass, and even though I was spent, I wanted more of ‘im. “Let’s go, rich boy,” I murmured into his mouth. “Fuck me.”

He smirked, kissin’ me again, smotherin’ any words I might have said as he eased his cock into me. It hurt a little. Not much since he’d stretched me properly, but his cock was bigger than his fingers, and it burned a little. But like, the good kind. The kind I didn’t want to stop.

And he didn’t stop. He made it slow, made me enjoy it completely. Every centimeter of him felt amazin’. I pushed up to meet his thrusts, gaspin’ as I wrapped my legs around him tight, holdin’ him close. He clutched at the underside of my thighs so tight I figured he’d leave marks. I’d have to remember to wear my long shorts with Shizuka and his brother there. The build up was slow, him takin’ his time to enjoy it.

It didn’t take me long to reach my end. I needed to get off so bad. The way he rolled into me and pressed against my prostate had my whole body tinglin’, pulsin’ with anticipation. I was hard again too, and when Kaiba stroked my cock, just one little touch was all it took for me to explode all over his hand. He chuckled into my neck, deep and reverberating. I was enjoyin’ it too much to care, but the laughter must have pushed him over the edge, because he tensed above me and let out a keenin’ moan of pleasure. He slammed into my ass, buryin’ himself as he emptied in me.

He rested on top of me, both of us catchin’ our breaths while still connected. “Why’d ya laugh?” I asked through my pantin’.

“You’re cute when you cum,” he said. “And you’re so sensitive. One touch was all it took.”

I flushed, lookin’ away. “I couldn’t help it when ya dragged it out so long.”

Kaiba picked himself up, slidin’ out of me, lettin’ me really feel his cum tricklin’ out my ass. “You liked it,” he said, as he settled beside me.

I stuck my tongue out at him, but I still snuggled against his chest. I didn’t need to agree with him. Of course I’d liked it.

-

I woke up when Kaiba got up. Somehow, we’d managed to sleep in each other’s arms, a fuckin’ feat because I usually moved around too much, so when he detangled himself from my arms, I couldn’t help it. The jostlin' woke me up too. He was in the shower, and I joined him, though we just showered. Nothin’ wild. I gave him a hug while the water washed off the soap lathered all over us. “Good luck today, babe.”

“Mmm,” he agreed.

“I’ll make sure my stuff is outta your room before I head in.”

“You don’t have to move it,” he told me, hand warm against the small of my back.

“Well, at least the essentials. Like my underwear and phone charger.”

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Good luck, Katsuya. Call my pitches properly today.”

I gave him a smirk. “I always call ‘em right for ya.”

He shook his head and stepped away from me, finishin’ his shower. He finished his mornin’ routine and left, leavin’ me to finish tidyin’ everythin’ up and cook myself breakfast. I was nearly ready to leave when Shizuka arrived, knockin’ on the apartment door. I let her in and led her to my room. “I’m headed out in a second. Gotta warm up and stuff.”

“I’ll tag along to the stadium, too. I’m meeting Kaiba today too, right?”

“Of course,” I told her. “And apparently his little brother. He’s stayin’ here tonight, too.”

She looked surprised, but I quickly explained the sleepin’ arrangements. “And don’t mention nothin’ to him about us datin’. His brother doesn’t know.”

“Why?” she asked.

“It’s because their father’s an ass and would be awful about it. If Mokuba doesn’t know, he doesn’t have to keep the secret. I don’t think he minds his brother knowin’. Just kinda seems like he’s lookin’ out for both of ‘em.”

She nodded in agreement. “I’ll make sure I don’t say anything around him.”

With that, we were off to the last regular game of my college baseball career.

-

The game was goin’ alright. Kinda back and forth, but we hadn’t lost the lead. We were playin’ pretty well, though there were some dumb mistakes made. But it was somewhere around the bottom of the seventh, I realized that somethin’ was definitely wrong with Kaiba. His pitches were inconsistent and all over the place, and that wasn’t like him. He was usually right in the strike zone every time. For him to walk two batters in a row and make me work to catch his pitches was weird. The third batter up hit a pop fly in the infield, givin’ us the first out of the innin’. A strikeout, followed by an out at third base closed out the inning.

I was battin’ fifth in this innin’, so I darted up to Kaiba, touchin’ his arm to get his attention.

“What?” he growled.

“You okay?” I asked. “You’re… Your pitchin’ seems kinda off.”

“I’m fucking aware,” he seethed, turnin’ away from me to go off with the pitchin’ coaches to keep his arm loose and warm for the next innin’. I tried not to let his attitude bother me since he was probably just mad at himself for doin’ bad. Regardless, I couldn’t shake the bad feelin’ creepin in.

The opposin’ team got the next three batters out before I had my chance at bat, and we were back on the field. Kaiba was worse. After hittin’ the first batter with the ball and lettin' him walk to first base, I signalled for him to just do a regular fast ball. Nothin’ fancy. He was lucky the batter was too busy swingin’ for a big hit to bother tryin’ to read his pitches. The third batter hit a pop fly, caught by the second baseman for an easy out. Two outs. One to go.

Whatever was goin’ on with Kaiba’s arm was just gettin’ worse. He wasn’t throwin’ right. I was tryin’ to have him do easy stuff, but his first pitch with the fourth batter was a curveball. The batter swung and missed, but I tossed the ball back to Kaiba, scowling at him for not listenin’ to me. I signalled for a fast ball, and he launched it at me. I caught the pitch, a perfect strike, but I didn’t have time to care once the ball was in my mitt. Kaiba had dropped to his knees right in front of the mound. A single anguished cry came from ‘im as he grasped at his arm. The umpire behind me held up play as soon as he processed what had happened, and I darted out, pushin’ past the batter at the plate. I was too worried about Kaiba to care about hangin’ back or keepin’ up appearances.

Even before I got close, I could see his arm hangin’ limp as he cradled it, and I knew it was bad. No pitcher ever wanted to injure their shoulder, and clearly, that’s what he’d done. He knew it too, judgin’ from the expression on his face. Pain, sure, because of course it fuckin’ hurt, but the tears he was holdin’ back were those of realization and bitter, stingin’ defeat.

I was kneelin’ beside him and askin’ if he thought he was gonna be okay. If it hurt. I didn’t even realize I’d ripped off my mask until Coach Matsumoto was pressin’ it into my hand. One of the assistant coaches, I wasn’t aware enough in the moment to realize who, tried to pull me away, but I fought against his hold. I didn’t want to leave Kaiba. I couldn’t leave ‘im all alone.

“Jounouchi, come on,” he said, draggin’ at my arm harder this time. Realizin’ there was nothin’ I could do, I allowed myself to be dragged over to the dugout. The rest of the team whispered to each other, serious and worried.

“Shit,” I hissed, as I flopped down on the bench. The reality of the situation was startin’ to hit. Kaiba had injured his shoulder, and that meant he might never pitch again. Everythin’ he’d fought so hard for and strived to attain, to get away from his adoptive father, might have become worthless in seconds. My eyes watered, the back of my throat raw. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit something. “Shit.”

They brought out a motorized cart and carried Kaiba off the field, and like nothin’ potentially life-alterin’ had occurred, the game resumed with me catchin’ for the relief pitcher, Noriko. He gave up a run, lettin’ our opponents tie up the game before gettin’ the final out. 

I was upset angry and second at bat. It was all I needed. Tomohisa got on first. On my turn at bat, I wanted vengeance. I wanted to win for Kaiba’s sake. Angry and upset, I swung hard for the first pitch, missin’ and gettin’ a strike, but on the second second pitch, I found the sweet spot. The ball flew over the far wall. A homerun. That was how the game ended. We held onto the lead and ended up winnin’ by one point. A bittersweet victory.

-

As soon as Coach Matsumoto dismissed us after the game, I rushed to the hospital, runnin’ on foot. Shizuka, havin' been able to guess what I was gonna do, met me in the hospital lobby. She didn't say a word, just reachin' out to hold my hand supportively as I asked where I could find Kaiba.

The receptionist told me which room he was in, and I headed up to his room with Shizuka followin’ right behind me. I rounded the corner into his room, comin' face to face with a teenager with unruly black hair. "Jounouchi?" he asked.

"Um, yeah. The one and only," I answered, but I knew this had to be Kaiba's brother. They looked enough alike in the face.

"Jounouchi," Kaiba said, voice so monotone and lifeless, "this is Mokuba."

"Nice to meet ya," I said. Rememberin' Shizuka behind me, I added, "This is my sister, Shizuka."

With introductions out of the way, I focused all my attention on Kaiba. He had his arm in a sling and an IV connected to his good arm. "How are ya doin'?"

He gave me a one shouldered shrug. "Clearly not great."

I reached out and touched his forearm. "Seto," I admonished softly, "what did the doctor say?"

"It isn't important. Did we win?"

"Yeah. We won. But it is important. Are ya gonna be okay?"

His lips pursed into a frown, the sort that looked kinda like he was bitin' back tears. He released a tough breath. "I'm going to need surgery to repair my shoulder," he admitted softly.

"Surgery will fix you right up," Mokuba said positively, but I knew from lookin' at his face that wasn’t true. Kaiba wasn't gonna play again. Not seriously. Not as a pitcher. I felt the tears pricklin' at the back of my eyes again and had to fight down the urge to cry for him. Everythin' he'd worked so hard for, the escape he'd desperately wanted, and now it meant nothin'.

I clutched his hand tight, pullin' it toward my mouth before he yanked it away from me. It took me a second to realize he'd done it because Mokuba was there watchin' us.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. And I really was sorry. For almost slippin’ up in front of his brother, for his injury, for the future he’d just lost. “I’m really, really sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said, sighin’. “Go back to the apartment. I’ll be back later this evening.”

I didn’t wanna leave him, but he had his brother with ‘im, and me bein’ there longer woulda just gave me more chances to slip up. Hangin’ me head, Shizuka and I trudged back to the apartment together. She stayed close, supportive but not speakin’. She didn’t need to say anythin’ anyway. Her presence was enough. And what would she have said to make any of this better?

She didn’t speak until we got back to the apartment. I flopped down at the kitchen table, buryin’ my head in my hands. She gently rubbed my back. “Kaiba-kun will be okay,” she said.

I shook my head. “He ain’t gonna play again. He knows it, too.”

“Playing baseball certainly isn’t the only thing he can do with himself. He’s smart. He can make a future for himself. I know it.”

“It ain’t that. Ya don’t… understand. And it ain’t my place to share his personal life with ya. But not playin’ baseball… kinda messes everythin’ up for him.”

She nodded, not botherin’ to pry further for an answer. "Whatever happens, you'll both get through it. I know you will."

I wanted to believe her, but I couldn't. Not without talkin' to Kaiba first. She offered to get dinner for all of us while I took a shower, and I agreed, leavin' her in the kitchen and trudgin' off to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later and all cleaned up, I felt a little better. Still anxious about what the future was gonna bring Kaiba, bring both of us, but more ready to figure out a plan. Shizuka was makin' rice and there was somethin' fried sizzlin' in a pan on the stove top when Kaiba and his brother finally got back.

I kept my distance, not wantin’ to hover but desperate to talk to him. He was puttin’ on a tough face, likely keepin’ up appearances for his brother. He mostly sat in silence, stayin’ in the room with us as we ate and pickin’ at his own food. It didn’t take long for Mokuba to start talkin’ about himself. About how he was in his second year of high school and wanted to go to school for marketin’. I liked him though. He was a happy, pretty well-adjusted kid. Almost as if Gozaburo didn’t influence his life. I wondered if that’s what Kaiba had meant when he said that the dick was usin’ Mokuba to manipulate him. A  _ do what I want and I leave Mokuba alone _ probably would have kept Kaiba in line. The thought just made me more angry. Kaiba didn’t deserve none of that shit.

Eventually, Kaiba stood up to go to bed, and Mokuba went with ‘im, offerin’ to help him get ready for bed. I watched them go, and I musta looked really sad about it because Shizuka reached out and touched my arm. I glanced over at her, and she smiled reassurin’ly.

“You didn’t say much at dinner. That’s not like you.”

I sighed, smilin’ back at her ever so slightly. “Ya expect me to act like myself right now?”

“No,” she assured. “But things will work out for him. You’ll see.”

“I hope,” I said.

She shook her head, and then gave me a hug. “I’m going to go to bed. It’s been a long day. See ya in the morning, nii-chan.”

I squeezed her back. “Yeah. Goodnight, Shi-chan.”

She headed off for my bedroom, leavin’ me alone in the livin’ room. I settled onto the couch and pulled a blanket over my torso and tried to get comfy. No reason to stay up if no one else was up, but fallin’ asleep was hard. My thoughts wouldn’t settle. I laid there for several hours, lookin’ through baseball news on my phone, checkin’ up on social media, and messagin’ the guys from the team. They were all worried about Kaiba and what his absence would mean for the rest of the season. I didn’t reply. But I worried too. For him, not the season. The rest of the season didn’t matter to me. And I was gonna keep worryin’ until I finally got to talk to him.

-

At 6 AM, my fitful sleep was interrupted for good, when Kaiba came and woke me up. He made me move and sat down on the couch, makin’ me curl up on his lap as he ran his fingers through my hair. It felt nice.

“You gonna be okay?” I asked softly.

“Unlikely. Surgery will repair my shoulder, but it’s still likely to dislocate again. Factor in the time to recover from the surgery itself, I’m already going to be too far behind to ever catch back up and compete at the same level.”

“You really gonna give up that easily?”

Kaiba sighed. “It’s not as though I want to, but realistically, the chances of me returning to pitching at the same level I was at are slim. Plus, when Gozaburo finds out, he’s not going to let me keep playing. No matter how much I want to.”

I reached up and cupped his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“I just feel for ya. It really sucks.”

“I don’t need your pity.”

I sighed heavily. “It ain’t pity. I don’t know what it is, but it ain’t pity.”

“Okay,” he agreed softly.

We stayed on the couch in silence for a long stretch. Twenty minutes at least. With him lost in thought and gently runnin’ his fingers through my hair. All of this was heartbreakin’ and surreal. It didn’t feel real.

“What am I going to do now?” he finally asked, a breath of a question.

It hadn’t crossed my mind before, but suddenly, I knew. I knew the answer to the question. “Graduate and come with me.”

“Come with you?”

“Yeah,” I said, noddin’. “I’m movin’ to the States one way or the other to play. Come with me. We’ll make a new life there. Together.”

“Jounouchi, we’ve been dating for two months. It hardly seems like enough time to start making such big decisions with each other.”

“We’ve technically been datin’ for two months, but we’ve been together longer than that. Don’t tell me the past two years meant nothin’.”

I looked up and saw his expression, tight lipped and flushed. They definitely meant somethin’ to ‘im. “They were not meaningless,” he agreed, reluctant.

“Good.” I stayed silent for a moment, considerin’. “I’d be happy if ya’d just… think about it. You’ll always have a place with me. Always.”

Kaiba nodded. “I have to think about Mokuba too, but I’ll consider it.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

I stayed layin’ in his lap for a while after that, just enjoyin’ his company in silence. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead, and my heart bubbled with happiness. I loved him. I hurt for him in his pain. I wanted him to be happy, and I hoped he’d come with me.

“Awww,” Shizuka said from the hallway, scarin’ me and Kaiba both. “You two are so cute.”

I flushed. I didn’t see Kaiba’s face, but I’m sure he went red, too. He pushed me up and slid out from under me, wordlessly slinkin’ back toward his room.

“Jeeze, say somethin’ next time,” I griped.

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” she said. “You both looked like you needed that moment.”

I frowned at her. “How long were you watchin’ us?”

“Only like a minute or two.”

“Creep,” I teased. Not like I was really mad or nothin’, just disappointed at havin’ our moment ruined. I didn’t want to keep bein’ all mopey with her there, either. Me and Kaiba would figure this out one way or the other. I didn’t need to ruin her trip to see me. After all, it was prolly one of the last times I’d see her before I left for my new home.

She simply grinned at me. “I’ll make it up to you with breakfast. Whatever you want.”

“Now you’re speakin’ my language, Shi-chan. But it’s gonna cost ya.”

“Name your price,” she said, hands on her hips and a smug look on her face.

“American style breakfast. Complete with pancakes. No skimpin’ on me.”

She grinned. “As you wish.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Kaiba. D:
> 
> I hope you've been enjoying this so far. Only one chapter left! Please let me know what you think or what you think might happen next! Thanks so much for reading!


	5. Entry Level

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a surprise cameo in the chapter. Can you guess who?

The last couple of weeks of classes were weird. Practicin' for our national games, but my heart wasn't really in it without Kaiba playin'. He came to practice, of course. Every morning gettin' up and lettin' me help him get dressed, which I'd pointed out was different to be puttin' his clothes on instead of takin' 'em off. It felt different. Helpin' him get dressed was way now intimate than gettin' him undressed. He wasn't totally helpless though, since he could move his arm some, but it clearly still hurt when he did. The doctor had popped it back into place, but the damage needed repaired, and his surgery wasn't until after graduation.

So he sat and watched practice and came to the games. He stayed silent, kept to himself. I couldn't say I was surprised. It musta been hard to watch us and not be able to play. We lost in the quarter finals though. We'd fought our way through the season with Kaiba pitchin'. Without 'im, it was impossible.

We got back home after our loss, and the withdrawn attitude he'd been goin' around with was at its all time worst.

"You okay?" I asked, watchin' him trudge toward his bedroom.

"Fine," he muttered.

I knew that wasn't the real answer. "Be honest."

He frowned, the corners of his lips turned downward. "I… it's over. Really over."

Melancholy filled his voice. Losin' his future left him down and uncertain. He still hadn't said anything about a plan, and that uncertainty hung over us heavily.

"We made it," I said to him.

He shook his head. "You made it."

"I couldn't have ever made it this far without ya, Seto. And you made it, too. You were here the whole time, right until the end. It's been us for a long time. I hope it always is even if ya can't play."

He stood there in silence, shifting from foot to foot. "I've decided I'm going to stay here, Katsuya."

The words felt like a punch to my gut, leavin' me breathless. I felt the tears prickle behind my eyes. "Oh," I breathed.

"I wish I could come with you, but I can't leave Mokuba with  _ him  _ if I outright defy him like that." He was tremblin' as he told me, and when he looked up, his eyes were filled with tears he refused to cry.

"I understand," I said, sniffin'. "But uhh… Shit. What are ya gonna do?"

He looked ahead, drawin' a breath. "Work for him. Whatever he asks, I'll do."

I reached out and touched his arm. "Ya don't have to do that to yourself."

"I do have to. For Mokuba's sake. I have to protect him."

I knew he wouldn't change his mind, not now that he'd made it up, and I stopped tryin' to hold back. I buried my face in his chest and let myself cry, wrappin' my arms around him and squeezin' tight. "I love ya. God, I'm gonna miss ya so much."

"I know. I'll miss you, as well. I'll miss this." He was holdin' me just as tightly. He rested his forehead against mine.

I didn't want to move and ruin the moment. I wanted out to last forever, him just holdin' me tight like this. We stood there for a long time, not movin', not sayin' nothin'.

"We still have some time left together, Katsuya," he said quietly.

He’d spoken it just suggestively enough for me to look up at him, and he was kissin’ me like it was the only thing that mattered. And in the moment, as he eased us onto the bed, it really was. Enjoyin’ our last week together. It hurt, like everything was crumblin’ apart beneath us, but the only thing I could do was enjoy what we had left. Our separation loomed ahead of us, and I wanted to savor every moment.

-

With finals out of the way, all that remained was graduation. Shizuka was comin’ and bringin’ our mom. Even our deadbeat dad had managed to get a ride to attend graduation. Guess he was proud of me, even if I didn’t really want him there. Kaiba had, as always, left me in bed alone in the mornin’. I had really been hopin’ he wouldn’t. He was leavin’ after the ceremony, goin’ home with Gozaburo. I had another week left in the apartment, then I was packin’ up, clearin’ out, and movin’ to the States. 

I’d settled on goin' to the team in Texas. The team there had offered more money, livin' expenses were less, and there were plenty of nearby professional teams that would maybe be interested in pickin’ me up in a season or two. With all the changes coming up for me, I was glad I'd get to say goodbye to my family. I wasn't sure when I'd get to see them again. 

Kaiba had his stuff packed up in the living room by the time I was up and grabbin' breakfast. He was on the phone, talkin' to someone, though judgin' from the scowl on his face, I figured it was Gozaburo. The conversation was over though, and he hung up his phone and sighed. “I don’t know what I was expecting,” he muttered.

“What’s up?”

He held back a grimace. “Gozaburo cannot make it to the graduation ceremony today, which means Mokuba will not be here either. He’s sending a chauffeur to pick me up this evening.”

I shook my head. “Unbelievable… Actually, ya know what? It’s totally believable. It’s the biggest dick move I can think of, which is exactly like ‘im.”

Kaiba nodded.

“I know it ain’t like… that much of a consolation or nothin’, but I’ll cheer for ya.”

“Thank you,” he said, and he came toward me, pullin’ me into his arms. He held onto me tightly, and I kinda wanted to remind ‘im that my family was gonna be showin’ up any minute. I didn’t though, just glad for the closeness while we could have it.

“I’m gonna miss ya, Seto,” I breathed to him.

“I want to stay with you, too,” he returned. “I wish I could. I wish I could take Mokuba and leave with you. Fuck Gozaburo and his manipulation.”

“You should come when ya can,” I murmured against his neck. “When Mokuba graduates and is headin’ to college, come live with me. I’ll wait for ya.”

His breath caught in his throat as I kissed his neck, and he moaned. “I’ll consider it.” He threaded his fingers into my hair and tilted my head back, kissin’ my lips with more passion than he ever had before. A fiery possessiveness that hadn’t really surfaced yet.

“I’m yours, Seto. I’ll wait as long as it takes,” I gasped when he pulled away.

“You better.” The cocky smirk on his face made me snort, amused, and I was about to lean back in to kiss him some more when a knock sounded on the door.

Reluctantly, I moved away from him, goin’ and lettin’ in Shizuka and my mom. Without a word, Kaiba slinked away, leavin’ me with my family. I didn’t see him the rest of the day, but I did cheer for ‘im loudly when he walked across the stage. A couple of the other guys from the baseball team cheered for ‘im too. He smiled at me when he walked back, and I flushed.

Afterwards, my family dragged me out to dinner, celebratin’ my graduation. My dad told me I needed to send ‘im money, but I wasn’t gonna do that. He didn’t need any enablin’, and I certainly wasn’t gonna pay for his bad habits. Okaa-san just wished me luck, tellin’ me that she was proud of me. I wasn’t sure I really believed her though. If she was proud of me, she shoulda been there long before I’d actually accomplished somethin’. But I wasn’t gonna complain, not when for the first time since I was a little kid, we were all together as a family.

They dropped me back off at the apartment, and walkin’ in and seein’ it empty ‘cept for my shit took the air from my lungs. Kaiba had left and gone home, and it hurt more than I coulda ever imagined. All alone in the apartment, it was easy to let myself cry. I shoulda been happy. I shoulda been celebratin’. Instead, I curled up on my rarely used futon and cried myself to sleep.

-

In the mornin’, I had a long string of messages from Seto. 

_ >> Seto: I’m sorry I couldn’t say goodbye yesterday. Gozaburo expected me back before dinner time, and I didn’t want to interrupt your time with your family. _

_ >> Seto: I often find it difficult to express myself, but I want to tell you this while it’s fresh in my mind. _

_ >> Seto: Spending the last four years with you was enlightening. I know we had a rough start after our high school rivalry, and it took us a while to find an acceptable middle ground. However, I’m glad we managed to. I’m glad we got past that and were able to get close to each other. _

_ >> Seto: I never really thought I’d find someone I would love. Most would say feeling that way is silly. But there was no reason to believe it. Gozaburo always said it was worthless. That it would make me weak and stupid, and after losing people I loved before, it was hard to argue against him. _

_ >> Seto: I know better now. You showed me better. That it isn’t worthless or foolish or whatever shit he tried to get me to believe. I love you, Katsuya. Despite the odds. Despite the secrecy required and how anyone who might find out would oppose it. It was worth something to me. _

_ >> Seto: I will work diligently to join you, as long as you’re willing to have me. I may have had to abandon my dream of playing baseball professionally, but I don’t have to stop dreaming of a future of us together. _

I was chokin’ up, wipin’ at the tears in my eyes. He’d made me cry goin’ to bed, and he’d made me cry wakin’ up.

_ << I’m always gonna be willing to have ya, idiot _

_ << And I love ya too. I literally cannot wait until you can ditch Gozaburo and come live with me in America. Mokuba can come too. It’ll be awesome. _

There was so much more I wanted to tell him, but I couldn’t find the words. It wasn’t like I was especially eloquent, Kaiba had that down pat. I just fumbled through and hoped for the best.

-

In a blink of an eye, my last week in Japan passed, and I was off to America. Kaiba had had his shoulder surgery and was healin’ up well, as far as I could tell. Even as I got settled into my apartment in Texas, I was messagin’ him, keepin’ him updated on what was goin’ on with me. And I definitely wanted to know how he was doin'.

Even from afar, I could tell he was down. His responses lacked any real emotion. Only when Gozaburo had done somethin' to upset him did I see the feelin' trickle outta him. He was goin' back to how he was before I'd gotten through to him, and it hurt to not be able to be there for him.

And there truly was nothin' I could do. Not from so far away and with a schedule packed full of baseball games, practice, trainin' sessions, and local fan meet and greets. All I could do was call him and give him an outlet, and usually, he didn't say much.

I sighed as I laid back in bed one evening right as the season wrapped up. It was a nice, one bedroom apartment, but I missed havin' Kaiba livin' with me. Livin' alone in an unfamiliar country wasn't exactly fun. Between practice and everythin' though, I decided that I should become a US citizen. If I was gonna keep playin' baseball here, it would be easier that way.

Right around Christmas time, I was in the middle of studyin' when Kaiba called me late one night.

"Hey, Seto."

"Katsuya," he breathed into the phone in such a way that I knew somethin' was wrong.

"What's up?"

"I'm ready to leave. I can't stand it anymore," he said quietly.

"Are ya sure? What about Mokuba?" I asked.

"Do you...not want me to come?"

"Of course I want ya to come. I've missed ya desperately. But I know ya were worried about your brother."

"He's fine."

"Are you? You ain't been yourself lately."

"Would you be okay if you had to live with and work for someone like Gozaburo every day?"

"Well no. It would really suck. I’m sorry, alright. I can’t wait for ya to come live with me. I been lookin’ forward to it since ya left."

"Shit," Kaiba said. "I'm going to have to go. He's calling for me."

"Okay," I said, but I didn't want to let him go. But Kaiba was ready to make the move. I looked over my apartment. Not too messy, but I minute Kaiba would not approve of its state. I picked up a little before returning to studying. Kaiba would probably want to stay somewhere nicer when he moved here, but I couldn't afford it. Not yet. Maybe once he settled in, found a job, and had some income of his own to contribute we could move somewhere else.

I went to bed, excited to talk to him again and make plans for his move, all the while excited for whatever might happen next.

-

Even I couldn't have guessed what happened the very next week. I was at my scheduled weight training session, when the owner of the professional team in the next biggest city strolled in. Pegasus Crawford was rich and known for bein' a bit eccentric. He was flanked by the coach, a man by the name of Frank Miller. "Jou!" Pegasus called out to me in greetin'.

I racked my weights, raisin' an eyebrow curiously, before goin' to greet him. I gave him and then Coach Mille firm handshakes, like Americans all expected. "Mr. Crawford. Mr. Miller. A pleasant surprise to see ya here."

"We're interested in picking you up," Coach Miller said. "Our catcher up and quit on us. The relief catcher is going to take the position, but we need a backup in case of injury. You seemed like the best man for the job."

Flabbergasted, I looked between them. "You serious?"

Pegasus nodded, further explaining, "We've discussed it at length and think you would be a good fit for our team. I'll hope you'll consider the offer."

I bit back a giddy laugh. "Hell yes, I will. When do ya want me to start?"

Both men smiled, nodding to each other. "Our regular training has already begun. As soon as you can would be best," Coach Miller explained.

Pegasus smiled jovially. "I've had a contract with some numbers drafted up. You should review those and sign the contract of its agreeable." He handed me the envelope.

We talked for several more minutes, and I felt like I was floatin'. It was all so surreal and sudden, and I felt like bustin' or laughin'. When they left, and I looked at the numbers, I fought back a gasp. It was more than I'd hoped for. Way more. I immediately signed and returned the contract, and then headed off to tell my coach I was movin' on and movin' up.

And on the way home, I called to tell Kaiba I was a Major League player.

"I'm gonna move closer to where my practices are gonna be," I told him. "And I'll get us a nice place to live."

"Could you...get somewhere that Mokuba could also come and live with us?" he asked hesitantly.

I smiled at the request. "Only if we ain't keepin' things a secret from him anymore."

Kaiba chuckled softly. "Of course not. I wouldn't to."

With that settled, I got off the phone with him and jogged the rest of the way home. I showered and spent the rest of the day lookin' for apartments.

-

Because he was gonna live there too, I ended up having Kaiba start lookin' for places. He'd send me links of apartments overnight while he was up, and then I'd set up an appointment and look the place over. I ended up pickin' a place in the suburbs, mostly because it was closer to where my practices were actually gonna be.

I threw myself back into studyin' for my citizenship test too once I'd moved in. If I was gonna stay and not have to deal with visa or greencard shit, it was the easiest thing to do. Plus, in the back of my head, I had another thought. An ulterior motive. If I was a citizen, Kaiba and I could get married, and he could become a citizen too. The thought always made me flush, but I couldn't stop thinkin' about it. It's what I wanted more than anything. The unspoken goal I had yet to achieve.

I managed to earn my citizenship in record time, largely thanks to the weight of Crawford helpin’ push me through the system. All the while I was practicin’ with my new team, and all the guys were at a whole other level. It made me just want to keep gettin’ better. The Major league professionals were really a league of their own, and I was humbled to say the least. So I put in all my effort to bein’ worthy of the title, of bein’ there.

The season started up, and by the end of April, Kaiba and Mokuba moved in. I wasn’t home the weekend they got there due to a series of away games. However, I had sent Kaiba a key to the place, so I was really excited to go see him when I got back in town. He and Mokuba were sittin’ on the couch as I walked in, eatin’ dinner that Kaiba had clearly purchased.

“Jounouchi,” Kaiba said, surprisingly curt.

“Hey,” I returned softly.

Mokuba gave me a sheepish smile. “Hey, congrats on making it big, Jounouchi-kun.”

“Congrats on graduatin’ high school,” I returned. “I’m happy to have ya here.”

Mokuba stood up and took his plate to the kitchen. “I’ll leave you two alone for a bit. Nice seeing you again, Jounouchi-kun.”

I gave him a short salute as he left the room, and then I sat down next to Kaiba. I reached out and took his hand. “God, it’s so fuckin’ good to see ya,” I said, squeezin’ his hand.

“Yeah,” he breathed, a sigh, but he was also holdin’ back.

“What ain’t ya tellin’ me?”

“Gozaburo found out. Before I left.”

“About?” I asked, confused.

“You. Us,” Kaiba said. “I’m worried he’ll try to ruin your career.”

“What can he do to me?” I asked. “I ain’t got nothin’ to do with him.”

“I’m worried he’ll make it public information, and force your coach or whoever to drop you. He does have enough power to do that.”

I shuddered at the thought, but in the back of my mind, I doubted it. I didn’t get that kinda vibe from Coach Miller, and I really didn’t get it from Crawford. “I’ll go talk to my coach and the team owner when I have the chance. Make sure they know before it turns into a big thing. I’ll take care of it.”

Kaiba still was tense beside me. “Are you sure it’ll be okay?”

I nodded. “I kinda doubt Pegasus is gonna take kindly to having some other rich guy try to push him around. He’s… an interestin’ dude.”

He let out a breath and leaned against me. “I’m sorry. I was trying to disappear without a trace, but he caught me and started interrogating me. I mentioned I would be living with you, and he started putting pieces together. He was so angry, and I just… I took Mokuba and left.”

I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close and could feel him shakin’. He was upset. More upset than I’d ever really seen him. “You’re outta there now. And no matter what happens, you’ll be alright. All three of us will be alright. You and Mokuba are legal adults. He ain’t got any hold over ya anymore.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, but he was still clingin’ to me.

I gently patted his thigh. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.” I stood up and offered him my hand, pullin’ him up when he took it.

We didn’t do anythin’ that night, despite how much I wanted to. I’d missed him, and I’d wanted it, but Kaiba just needed the closeness. And honestly, that was fine too. He was too anxious about everythin’. There’d be lots more chances in the future now that he was here. Missin’ one night to give him needed wasn’t any big deal.

-

I did go talk to Coach Miller the followin’ day. He had looked surprised at my admission of datin’ a guy.

“I didn’t realize you swing that way,” he quipped.

“I don’t… necessarily swing any particular way, except for the fence.” Coach chuckled. “He’s just real important to me. I can’t really explain it.”

“It’s not an issue with me, but if you think his father might cause trouble, you should definitely talk to Mr. Crawford. Give him a call. He’ll likely take you to dinner after practice.”

So I did, and as Coach expected, he dragged me off to dinner. He had steak, potatoes, and wine, and I did too at his recommendation. “So what’s this about Jou?”

“Mr. Crawford, I… well… I’m datin’ a guy. I have been for over a year.”

“Oh exciting!” he cooed. It wasn’t exactly the reaction I’d expected, but I’d take excited over degradin’ any day. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

“So that’s the issue. He’s uh… the adopted son of Gozaburo Kaiba.”

Pegasus sipped at his wine, contemplatin’. “I must say, you do have good taste,” Pegasus shared. “But Mr. Kaiba probably won’t take too kindly to that.”

“No sir,” I agreed.

“You’re afraid he’ll try to use his influence to toss you out of the closet and off the team?” Pegasus asked, suddenly seemin’ more serious and wise than he had in our previous interactions.

“Yeah. That’s it exactly.”

“Well, rest assured, Jou. I won’t let any such thing happen. If he should force the issue, any publicity is good publicity in my opinion. We’ll deal with it when we come to it, but I can assure you that your sexuality will not get you get from the team.” He gave me a wink, and that’s when I knew. He was into guys, as well. Of course he would protect me from a douchebag like Gozaburo.

“Thanks,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”

He smiled kindly. “We have to stick together,” he commented. And just like that, conversation drifted back to baseball and the other teams and houses. It was a wild dinner, but I felt at peace afterwards. And Kaiba would too, knowin’ that no matter what Gozaburo did with the information, it wouldn’t hurt me.

-

It wasn’t for two more seasons, when I became the startin’ catcher, that Gozaburo actually made his move. Mokuba had finished his sophomore year of college. Kaiba had gotten a good job at a nearby company. All three of us were doin’ real well. It figured the dick would wait to leak the information when it would hit harder.

It was kinda a mad dash for the press, talkin’ about me and askin’ for comments on the rumors. Some of my teammates gave me sideways glances. But as promised, Pegasus had my back. He had scheduled a press conference at the end of the week, and before doin’ it, I went and talked to Kaiba.

“Are ya okay with this? Comin’ out and makin’ us official official on TV?”

He chuckled softly. “We might as well. Hell, let’s get married. Go to the courthouse tomorrow, and make it as official as it gets.”

I snorted in amusement. “Nothin’ says ‘Hell yes I’m with someone’ quite like a weddin’ band,” I agreed.

“Then it’s settled.”

And just like that, without much fanfare except for Mokuba’s excited cheers and Pegasus’s support, we were married. Platinum weddin’ bands on our fingers. As official as it got. Happy. Together. This was what both of us had really always wanted, even with the setbacks and struggles and separation. It felt good. Just like scorin’ a home run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we've made it to the end. Thanks so much for reading and sticking with me! Your support really does mean a lot!
> 
> This story was... interesting to write. I don't enjoy writing first person POV because it's SOOO difficult to get right. Admittedly, Jou's voice was fun, even if every time I finished a chapter, I found myself typing other things in his voice in error. Lol.
> 
> I also... don't really like baseball? This whole thing sprang up from me trying to imagine another scenario where Kaiba and Jou were rivals, but without card games. I, for whatever reason, decided sports! Which then became, "Which sport?" I initially thought soccer/football. But there's too much team for it to really work. It needed to be a little more... individual. And a pitcher/catcher combo worked. Plus... Japan loves baseball. It worked. So despite not being a big fan of the sport, it's what I went with. I hope... it wasn't too... baseball-y, in general though. Just enough to get the point across was what I was going for.
> 
> Anyway... enough of the closing comments. Let me know what you thought. I love hearing from you! ^^


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